Bowden plows fields of scorn

Award-winning author Charles Bowden, who wrote the National Geographic article “The Emptied Prairie” about North Dakota’s dismal hopes, visited our state last week and offended our good nature once again.

Let me start by saying, Bowden offered some thought-provoking observations about geography and the errors humans are making in an effort to defy the natural limitations of our earth. I’m glad I heard him speak and have been contemplating many of his points.

But his lecture provided little context for the “Emptied Prairie” piece. And his defensive attitude – calling those like the Governor who object to the article “dishonest” and “illiterate” because “even a 10 year old in Arkansas” can understand it -- discredits him as a writer.

The record created by this story needs to be corrected in two ways.

First, from the minute the article appeared and North Dakotans cried foul, Bowden and Geographic editors have insisted that “The Emptied Prairie” was not about North Dakota. The photos for the story came first and Bowden crafted his story around them. It was supposed to be a piece about abandoned buildings.

Perhaps. But in its published form, the article is very much a commentary on life in North Dakota. Bowden’s impressive credentials obviously haven’t earned him any manners, but he should realize that when he specifically names a place 25 times in one article, his observations will paint a very strong picture about that place and the people who live there.

A publication with the reputation of National Geographic ought to be honest enough to admit the article went far beyond an exploration of abandoned buildings.

Second, the core premise of the article is wrong. He concludes that in most places, “abandoned buildings are a sign of change and shifting economic opportunities.” But on the “High Plains” (like North Dakota) “they always mean that something in the earth and sky mutinied against the settlers.”

Bowden said homesteaders believed rain would follow the plow, “but learned better.”

The message of these poetic statements is that the land, the geography here, is unsuitable for farming or habitation in general. The fact that North Dakota is the top producer of 16 different agriculture commodities is apparently just a pesky, dismissible little detail.

The decline of North Dakota’s small towns and the abandoned buildings that remain are most certainly the result of shifting economic opportunities, just like the rest of the country. My own family is an example of this.

My dad grew up on a small grain farm near Ryder, N.D., an hour southwest of Minot. As the oldest son of six children, he spent his childhood toiling on that land and dreamed of farming himself someday. But his father had other plans.

Despite having only a sixth-grade education, my grandpa recognized the changing economics of farming. In less than 20 years, he saw his own operation grow from 160 acres worked entirely by horse-drawn equipment, to 800 acres farmed by fully automated tractors and combines.

He boarded my dad on a train to UND saying, “Get an education Duane. You can always farm, but no one can ever take your education away from you.”

My dad and countless other farm kids never returned to the farm, but that same land is still in production. And so is my dad. He has remained in North Dakota his entire life, creating a successful career and raising a happy family here.

North Dakotans are proof that you can certainly live a prosperous life in this state. You just can’t make it on a 160-acre parcel of land like the original settlers thought. Economic opportunities changed that plan.

This isn’t the dramatic story penned by Bowden of a land dominated by suicides, emptiness and unfulfilled dreams caused by a relentless, unlivable geography. But it is the truth.

Any 10-year-old can understand that.

Is expensive gas a real bargain?

I drove past a local Starbucks last week and noticed a line for the drive through that wrapped around the entire building, out of the parking lot and into the adjoining service road where two more cars waited with blinkers on to join the parade of coffee seekers.

Just beyond this line, a neighboring gas station declared the price of gasoline at $3.83/gallon.

I suspect most of the people in those cars were like me, and bemoaned paying nearly $4 a gallon for gasoline. Yet, I doubt many of them hesitated to pay just as much for 16 ounces of high-octane coffee.

I had to ask myself which product is really overpriced? Filling my 20-gallon tank with Starbucks mocha would cost about $640.

Soaring gas prices are lowering the balance on everyone’s bank account. Not just at gas stations but everywhere we turn prices are up. A basic round of errands like filling up the car, buying groceries and replenishing household necessities can quickly consume $300.

This is a serious, unsettling, painful matter. Economists estimate that every additional penny at the pump takes roughly $1 billion out of overall spending. Half of all adults say the rising cost of gasoline has had a big impact on their personal lifestyle, and low-income people are suffering the most.

What’s most disturbing is there are no apparent quick fixes. There’s no “federal bail out of the housing finance system” available on this issue.

Today’s high gas prices may well be the beginning of a Great Depression of our generation. Or perhaps expensive gas is a blessing for America and the world. The fact that there are no “easy ways out” of this crisis is triggering three important, long-overdue actions.

First, gas and energy prices are prompting necessary, realistic discussions on the local, state and national level about our energy needs and how to meet them.

An alarm went off on this issue 30 years ago and we’ve been hitting snooze ever since. Now we must wake up and get real. Extremists on all sides will be forced to either compromise or become irrelevant.

If we’re going to heat and light our homes, operate our vehicles and fuel a viable economy, we must begin to aggressively employ all of our potential energy sources – everything from geothermal and wind to nuclear, coal and our domestic oil supplies.

Second, high energy prices are forcing us to be more efficient, at home, in business and in government. Sales of motorized scooters increased 24 percent nationwide in the first quarter of the year, while sales of SUVs are plummeting.

People are searching for ways to drive less – coordinating rides with friends, consolidating errands, or just staying home. High operating costs are prompting farmers to employ high-tech innovations that decrease expenses by using less fertilizer, less water and less fuel.

The biggest beneficiary of efforts to use less energy, spend less money and meet our long-term energy needs will be the environment. Saving money is a much better motivator than even the direst warnings of global warming. I can easily ignore climate change but I might walk or bike to work to lower my gas bill.

Our energy challenges are daunting, but they have huge potential to trigger American innovation. As Plato said, necessity is the mother of invention. We are a nation of inventors.

I have great faith that American ingenuity unleashed in force on this challenge will create new energy solutions that will forever change the way we work, play and live. We are going to suffer along the way, but the changes will make us more efficient, more active, and will be good for our planet.

In the long run, expensive gas may be a bargain for all of us.